This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Applebee’s. The opinions and text are all mine.
Dinnertime. Sigh. Let’s be honest. Dinner times Monday through Friday can be described as chaotic at best, nonexistent at their worst. Meals occur anytime between 4:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. We typically devour food at warp speed somewhere between that last meeting of the day, soccer practice, picking up the dry cleaning, homework, dance lessons, and our youngest’s mid-week baseball game.
And in the spirit of honesty, more often than not, my culinary skills those nights involve working the car window and counting accurate change. I might not always turn down the culinary delicacy known as the chicken nugget, but I definitely definitely prefer a nice home-cooked meal — and the free time to do it!
Just when I almost officially wrote off dinner, I stumbled upon one of the greatest inventions ever. Okay, I might be exaggerating, but listen up moms! It’s pretty awesome! I recently learned aboutservice, and it’s ah-mazing! I gave it a test run or two, and I already realized I can utilize Applebee’s Carside To Go to win at mealtime during the week.
Plan Ahead
One of the toughest parts of weeknight meals, is, well, the actual meals. Most successful mealtime moms realize planning out meals for the week makes dinner time chaos much tamer. But even reheating a pre-made meal requires me to be at home online ordering and Carside To Go service offers a way for me to plan ahead and come up with a quick, easy meal that isn’t fast food.
Applebee’s made ordering a snap. I simply place my order (either by phone, online, or through the Applebee’s app), choose what location I want to pick it up from, select what time, and then share a brief car description, and I’m done. I simply pull up to one of the specially designated parking spots, and a nice employee brings out our order without me doing a single thing.
Simple. Easy. Less stress. Winning!
Eatin’ Good in the Neighborhood
Okay, so it’s not a home cooked meal, but it’s pretty close. And since we are all about honesty these days, the family is probably way more excited about the wonderful American-themed fare from Applebee’s than whatever meal I probably would have reheated from my crockpot.
offers a wide variety of options — perfect for a quick and healthy meal on the go. The kid’s menu offers a ton of children’s favorites, too. All of us like the wide variety of healthy sides to choose from. Tinier tots can even pick applesauce pouches as an option.
I appreciate knowing you can have a fast food option that isn’t “fast food”. I’m not knocking our favorite nugget and fries combo, but when my family can get the occasional baked chicken and veggie on the go? Winning!
Quality Time
Call me crazy (please don’t), but I do enjoy eating in the car together. An epiphany hit me over my delicious Thai Shrimp Salad. I actually savor this quality time meal time together. We might dining on the go, but we are still dining together.
Obviously, the car keeps us confined to a smaller space than our house. Plus, everyone is contained and can’t get up from this “table”. We chat, share about our day, and just spend quality time with each other. Isn’t that what meal time is all about?
It might not be a perfectly home cooked meal around my dining room table, but with the help of Applebee’s Carside To Go I’ve realized I can still win at mealtime.
Do you have a crazy busy week? Share with us some of your mealtime wins!
